I promise to give a detailed account of the cleanse that I did -- it was great! Very hard though, and I think there are some things to make it easier -- more info in the next few weeks... you all have kept me very busy in the last month!
I want to blog today about how disgusted I am with pharmaceuticals. In the last few days, the FDA and Merck have admitted that they knew Fosamax, the drug used for patients with osteoporosis, did not build quality bone in people who took it for more than 5 years, and the fracture risk has actually increased because the bone is more brittle than real bone created with good calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. And let me just mention here that calcium carbonate (Caltrate, Tums, etc) and magnesium oxide are basically rocks and not effectively absorbed into the body. After hearing about the Fosamax, I immediately called my mom and told her to stop taking it, and get herself some calcium citrate, magnesium malate, and vitamin D3 in the proper amounts. Bone is a living part of the body that needs to break down and build back the right way.
The more I study functional medicine the more I want to treat patients as dynamic systems that change, repair and function in natural ways. Irritable bowel syndrome, reflux disease, migraines and hormonal imbalances can all be treated with natural substances that assist your body with the healing process and do not change the way your body works.
The problem is daily life -- a patient sent me this link that I found very interesting:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35315651/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition
Basically, it really does not matter what I give you as far as vitamins, medications, and herbs, if you do not "walk the walk" and clean up your habits, your quality of life will eventually diminish and disease will be present. The cleanse or detoxification starts the process, and then you can change your habits and health.
Now don't get me wrong -- medications have their place, but with every other patient taking Prilosec or something similar, and changing the way their digestive system works (sometimes irreversibly), I start to take notice. So I hope to have the time in all your appointments to present all the options for treatment.
Off the soapbox now -- and back to work!
KG
